Pink Together & Gift Pack Giveaway

It's that time again--the month of October, dedicated to raising awareness about breast cancer. One of the hard things about this is that while it seems like we're all affected somehow, we don't always know where to turn for support or how we can help make a difference when we may not have the money to give towards awareness and research. That's where PinkTogether.com comes in. It's "an ever-growing community of hope of more than 680,000 breast cancer survivors and supporters" that gives the opportunity for people to share stories and encouragement, and also to send virtual flowers to others. MyBlogSpark let me know about the Pink Together initiative along with the following information:

On this site, you can also read the empowering stories from the 2010 Pink Together Survivor Ambassadors, five incredible individuals whose courage in the face of breast cancer serves as a source of inspiration:

• Ebony Steele – This three-year survivor serves as a National Ambassador for Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s® Circle of Promise, an effort focused on fostering breast cancer awareness, support, empowerment and action among African American women.

• Eli Arroyo-Allen – A two-year survivor, Eli is the founder of the Loving Life/Amando La Vida program supporting Latina women with breast cancer.

• Ginger Johnson – A mother and four-year survivor, Ginger is the director of Happy Chemo!, whose mission is to bring happiness to those dealing with the negative effects of chemotherapy and cancer.

• Libby Pomroy – Libby is a two-time, 15-year survivor and a General Mills employee.

• Nicole Vazquez – This three-year survivor is a Komen breast cancer activist in the Latino community.

These Survivor Ambassadors and their empowering stories will also be featured on the Pink Together Facebook fan page and YouTube channel, and on special pink packaging on your favorite General Mills’ brands like Cheerios® Cereal, Green Giant® Frozen Vegetables and Nature Valley® Granola Bars. If you or someone you know would make a great candidate for next year’s Pink Together Survivor Ambassadors, please visit PinkTogether.com for more information. To encourage personal connections in the online community, General Mills will donate $1 (up to $20,000) to Komen for each inspirational story submitted, encouraging comment posted, or virtual flower of support sent on PinkTogether.com, and for each shared message of hope posted on Pink Together’s Facebook fan page during the month of October (up to $5,000). This $25,000 is in addition to the $2 million donation General Mills has committed to Komen to advance breast cancer research and support education and community outreach projects.

In an effort to help people get involved in Pink Together, I have a "Connecting for a Cure" gift pack to give away to a reader from General Mills/MyBlogSpark! It includes a Pink Ribbon car magnet and key chain, travel mug, and drawstring backpack, along with coupons for free packages of one Big G cereal, Green Giant Frozen Veggies, Macaroni Grill Dinner Kits, Fiber One Bars and Progresso Soup. ARV approximately $50.00. I was sent one of these gift packs to review and, like usual, the items are good quality and the food is obviously delicious! You can view and purchase these and other breast cancer "pink ribbon" items at ShopKomen.com, where 25 percent of the merchandise purchase price benefits Komen. 

Win It! Each of the following will get you one entry into this contest. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry and an email address in each comment you leave! Contest will end on or after October 28th, 2010 at noon, EST. 

• Visit PinkTogether.com and send someone a virtual flower (1 flower=1 entry)
• Submit a story at PinkTogether.com and leave the link here
• Post an encouraging comment at PinkTogether.com and leave the link here (1 comment=1 entry)
• Subscribe to Life More Simply through email, feedburner, Google Friend Connect, or any reader (1 entry per way)
• Follow Life More Simply on Twitter or "like" us on Facebook (1 entry per each)
• Spread the word about this contest by tweeting about it, posting on Facebook, blogging, emailing some friends, or sharing on a message board somewhere (make sure you include a link)!

 Disclosure: General Mills provided me with the gift packs through MyBlogSpark. No monetary compensation was received for this post.